Sunday, April 06, 2008

The magic hour

I can't believe it's April already. Everything I do seems to take ages and yet the months are whipping by so quickly. Soon I will be trying to eat steak with one tooth and riding around in a bathchair with a blanket over my knees, steering with a kind of front-mounted wheel-rudder. by George, that day can't come fast enough! Apart from the tooth thing, brush your teeth everybody and don't eat too many sweets.

Hm now, what news what news.

Adding the comments feature to the Scary Go Round site was very dangerous for me, I have thin skin and hate criticism. After all, when you have buried your neuroses good and deep in the pit of your stomach, it's not fair of people to dig them up, print them on a tshirt and dance in front of your weeping eyes. But I have been pleased with the good manners and lack of bad language among the commenters. Maybe society will be okay for a little while yet!

That said, almost every day, someone will write a question about Erin Winters. Here's an exclusive for blog readers: that is a character who is never, ever, coming back. I have written why at length in Scary Go Round book 6 (in which she features prominently) so I guess you'll have to read it to discover my tedious thoughts on the matter.

On the subject of book 6, hopefully the wait won't be much longer. I have made it to 240/400 in my postcard project but my lord, what a slog. I have drawn a lot of Shelleys now. An AWFUL lot of Shelleys.

As for the aspirations to be Compo, you might well have a chance as I don't think they'll ever cancel that show (Eric Sykes was in one the other week!). How the Hell is Peter Sallis still alive? Are those claymation guys keeping him alive for future Wallace And Gromit films?

As for character usage, I'm quite content for you to dangle or cut the puppet strings whenever you want. Although I must say I was glad when you dispatched Rachel. I disliked her very much.

John, you must embrace the criticism. It's your friend! Where would your motivation be if you were creating a strip for a bunch of indiscriminate 'yes' men? Or worse, a bunch of apathetic goons who can't even be bothered to express an opinion either way? I dare say complacency would creep in. The people who moan and clamour for the return of past characters are only doing so because they care about the comic. They care because you've made it worth caring about! If no one cared you would not feel better. At a football match you get the odd fan who makes daft comments but ultimately you're wearing the same colours.

I have been that bad fan myself. I wailed when you abandoned vectors and my faith was shaken, but now I think the comics look better than ever and wouldn't want you to go back to the old ways. Like a new foreign signing, it just took time to settle.

Hello! You may recall me as the strange person who gave you a cardboard tube Space Owl at the Webcomix Thing! I have finally scanned and uploaded all the tortoises (and in your case turtle) I had people draw, if you would like to see them: http://odontomachus.livejournal.com/tag/giant+tortoise+post

*sniffs* Yes, you have the right to put whatever characters you like on a one-way trip to Hell. But I shall miss the big sister/little sister dynamic. (I have a little sister myself, and she treats me like a dotty aunt, much as Erin did Shelley.)

That's pretty sad news. I though Erin had a very unique role in Scary Go Round: the mousy, rational one. I'm sure you have your reasons, John, but I'll still be over in the corner, chanting "Save our Erin!"

I felt passionate enough about it that I'm trying to rally folks on my blog to join me: